Showers galore

I've always known that both Chris and I have wonderful, generous and loving families, but the kindness and support that was shown to us and Baby last weekend was still overwhelming.

The celebrations started with a party for members of my Mom and Dad's families. It was held at my house (nice because I didn't have to transport all the gifts!) and thrown by my wonderful sister-in-law, with an assist from my Mom.

There was a lot of great finger foods and a lot of delicious desserts. My 4 1/2-year-old niece was so cute, wanting to help decorate as much as possible, but some of the wall decorations needed to be hung by someone a little taller. :)

Fruit kabobs - a great idea for parties so people don't have to use silverware. My sister-in-law is so darn creative! 



Not only was it a lovely party and great to see family members, but we also received many wonderful gifts. We got a lot of the "essentials," including bottles, onesies, bath stuff and blankets.

I got some special help with opening the gifts from Baby Steiny's cousin. She was bummed though because most of the gifts came in bags, not wrapping paper. What fun is that!

My Grandma made Baby a wonderful blanket, complete with ocean creatures. She was the creator of my "blankie" that I never slept without for quite some time, as well as the bedspread I had for most of my youth. It will be great to have a blanket for my child from her to love, just as much as I loved mine. **Side note, my niece isn't great with wearing headbands! :)

But the weekend didn't stop there! We drove up to Chris' parent's house on Sunday, where aunts and cousins from both his Mom and Dad's families came to celebrate with us too.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law through a wonderful picnic party and we were once again given many thoughtful, helpful and lovely gifts. Baby got two other blankets from two special people - Chris' Grandma, who like mine has made him blankets all his life and they are very special to him, and his aunt. We also got our stroller/car seat, bibs, a much-needed closet organizer and some fun toys.

It was a beautiful day, so we were able to sit outside and eat our brats and hot dogs. It was a wonderful way to cap off a special day and special weekend!

Thank you to all our family members who came and celebrated with us, and also those that couldn't make it and sent a gift! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and Baby Steiny is extremely blessed (and spoiled) to already have you in his or her life as well.

32 week check-up

Sorry again for the lack of posts! I still don't have a good excuse, except for after working all day, trying to get in a little exercise at night and then being plenty tired, blogging is pushed to the back-burner. But I should have more things to report as we have more doctor's appointments now and I was lucky enough to have two baby showers this weekend (pictures to come later this week)!

But we did have our latest doctor visit last Thursday. Everything is still looking good! It was just a quick check-in to get my stats and do a once-over of baby, but the Dr. didn't check if anything was progressing or not.

Here's what we found out:
Mom's weight gain: 24 pounds. Ideally I'm supposed to gain between 25 and 35 pounds, so with 8 weeks left, it's looking like I'll be at the top of that scale (Mom likes her chocolate!)
Baby's heart rate: 132
Mom's blood pressure and pulse: Normal
Belly measurement: 33 cm. Still a little above where it should be, but the Dr. didn't seem too concerned.

That was about all we found out, but we'll be back to see him every two weeks now.

I'm still feeling really good and Baby's been VERY active the last few days. According to the books, I've been feeling more and more movement because Baby's getting bigger and there's less amniotic fluid between it and the outside of my stomach, so less to interfere with feeling those kickaroos!!

Which is bigger?

We bought this watermelon pretty much just to take this picture. Lesson learned, it wasn't very good :( While the weather might feel like it is summer already, I think the fruit isn't quite there yet!

No diabetes for me!

I was waiting until the results of my glucose test came back to write this post, which I just received, so here goes...

I had my 28-week doctor's appointment on Wednesday. This is the week when you do your glucose test to see if you have gestational diabetes. I had to go in and get my blood drawn to make sure my levels (of whatever it is they look for) were at an appropriate level, then drink 12 ounces or so of a sugary beverage (tasted like a flat Sprite - regular, not diet!), wait for an hour and get my blood drawn again to see how my body is processing the sugar.

As I said earlier, I just got the results and they were negative...just barely lower than the cutoff, but hey, lower is lower! Thank goodness! If I were to have gestational diabetes, it would mean major changes to my diet - no sugar and less grains and fruit and processed items. A good friend of mine recently had this and it's not fun, but is manageable.

My nurse (smart lady!) suggested that since I'll be at the clinic for an hour anyway, I should schedule my routine check-up with the doctor in the downtime. It worked out perfectly! And everything checked out well with Baby and me.

Here are the stats:
Mom's weight gain: Up to about 21 pounds, which is still right on track. I gained about 3 pounds in 3 1/2-4 weeks, which is what the doctor wanted to see at this point.
Mom's blood pressure and pulse: Still looking good on both counts
Baby's heart rate: 136 BPM  This was a bit of a drop from the previous appointments, which means Baby's starting to get ready to come out!
Belly measurement: 30 cm (Thank you to my friend Ashlee for correcting me that this is not measuring in inches, but in centimeters. Thirty inches would be enormous!!) The doctor said this is a little high (Again, thanks Ashlee for telling me that the centimeters should align with how many weeks you are), but that was probably due to my full bladder since I had just drank my 12 ounces of sugar water. He didn't seem too concerned that it was TOO big. (My dear husband was a large baby, so I'm always nervous he's going to tell me that I'm going to have to deal with getting a 10-pound+ child out of little-old-me!)
Check-up on if things are progressing for Baby's arrival: Negative! Thank goodness to this as well, because as much as I want to meet him or her, Baby needs to stay in there for a lot longer to get bigger and healthier.

It's all starting to feel very real...

People often ask me how I am feeling and my answer is usually, "Pretty good. I really can't complain." That answer is completely true, because physically, aside from some muscle aches, I have been feeling good, and have been this entire pregnancy. But my real answer should be, "I'm feeling good, but starting to get nervous since this kiddo is almost here!"

There have been a lot of things going on lately that have reminded me that Baby's due date is only three months away, and we really should be ready for him or her to come anytime now (as my recent family history has proven that babies can come whenever!). I had to pre-register at the hospital, so they have all of my information on file for when we show up. We also took a tour of the hospital this weekend. Our timing is perfect because they just finished a complete remodel of the birthing center, so the rooms are brand-new and lovely. My other signs have been from the person who knows best - my doctor! Not that he's thinking I'm going to deliver anytime soon, but he is starting to ask if I've felt any contractions and is going to start examining me more thoroughly at my next appointment to see if anything is starting. I also have to start going every two weeks, instead of once a month.

While all of these signs are somewhat scary, we're in pretty good shape for Baby's arrival. The nursery is pretty much done. We don't have a car seat yet, but have one picked out (I have four upcoming showers so we'll see if I get the car seat/stroller combo we registered for!). We've got a working list of names that we both agree on, though nothing has been officially decided. And finally, I think we're both definitely ready for parenthood.

It's all starting to feel very real!

25 weeks

My apologies once again for the lack of posts. Between our busy lives at work and at home, blogging has kind of fallen to the back of my mind. Plus, there haven't been any major updates to Baby lately. I'm just feeling bigger and bigger each day, probably because Baby is growing bigger and bigger each day. According to the books, Baby's gaining a half-pound a week and a couple inches too! The only other update is that we have one active child in there. If the last few weeks are any indication of how the kiddo is going to be once it gets bigger, we're in trouble! But it's been fun for us to get feel all those movements!!

I did have my monthly check-up with the doctor on Monday. Everything looked good and the next appointment will be another big one - the glucose test. From what I've heard it's not very pleasant. You have to drink something sugary, wait for awhile and then get your blood tested to see if you have gestational diabetes. It affects about 10 percent of pregnant women, according to one of my books, so even though I have no history of diabetes, I could potentially get it now. It would mean changing my diet, but thankfully goes away after Baby. Fingers crossed I don't have to deal with it!

Baby's 25 week stats:
Heartrate: 152 beats per minute (I think it was a little higher than last appointment because of all the kicking it had been doing that afternoon!)
Mom's weight gain: Almost 18 pounds, which is right on track for where I am. The nurse said I should be gaining about a pound a week at this point.
Mom's vitals: My pulse and blood pressure continue to be normal, thank goodness.
Belly measurement: Somewhere around 26 inches, I think. This was the first time the Dr. did this, so it kind of took me by surprise. I'll have to pay closer attention next time.

And last but not least, what most people probably come on here to see. Here is the Baby Steiny Bump at 25 weeks:

(Side note: I need to start taking these when I'm finished getting ready in the morning. Yikes!)

Baby's first shower

I am very blessed to have wonderful co-workers who went above and beyond throwing me a baby shower this week. Why in April, when I'm due in July, you might ask? Well it is because it was a joint shower for me and another momma-to-be (who also happens to be one of my very good friends in and outside of work). It was wonderful to share the experience with her! I have worked there for almost five years now and it has been the people that I work with who have made that time enjoyable, but the generosity and kindness in gifts to our baby was still overwhelming.

It was held at our offices after work and multiple people contributed yummy food, flowers and decorations to brighten up a few of our conference rooms.

 Here is a look at some of the yummy food. Yes, you do see a plate of pickles. The organizer's fiance thought it was a necessity to include those she said. Too funny!

And the most lovely and delicious cake!

Here's a look at some of the nice gifts and pretty flowers.

And last but not least, here's one of the two moms-to-be! Rachel is due with her little girl in about a month, so our kids will be about two months apart. I can't wait for them to be friends!

Rachel and I both received many wonderful gifts. We both got things off our registry, as well as unique gifts. One of the unique gifts was a laundry basket full of bath stuff, like shampoo and lotion, as well as wipes, hangers and a cute little rattle. I also was lucky enough to get many gift cards to Babies 'R Us, Target and a cool bookstore in St. Paul.

I also got two wonderful blankets, one sewed by my co-worker and one from a store and it might be the softest blanket I've ever felt. Baby stuff is so fun! I also go the much-needed changing table pad and cover and some of the cute bath stuff we registered for, like some washcloths and hooded towels. I also received the little chair that goes in the tub (also ocean-themed).

As you can see, I wasn't lying when I said my co-workers are generous! With more showers already in the works for family and friends, Baby Steinhoff is sure going to be a spoiled kiddo!